PUNCH Café @ North Canal Road

Punch is the epitome of a hipster cafe. Not the hipster wanna-be. But the hipster, hipster. Most importantly, the food is wicked. Located within a shophouse, it made use of the alfresco space and turned it into a mini outdoor lounge area, complete with lush greeneries on the wall. Inside the café, is a beautiful open kitchen with both high tables and counter seats. Fuss-free, classy and minimalistic.

Upon seated, the staff came up to us and recited the menu of the day. Nope, there’s no menu for you to flip through nor is there any pricing for you to consider. All you have to do is select the dish you imagine you’d like and order. I innocently asked if there were any pancake or waffle dishes, and got to learn that all the dishes they have were the ones that were already communicated. Indeed, not your mainstream café food.Tuna Quinoa Salad ($15) – This was so refreshing! Eating clean does not mean that taste is being discounted. It’s a huge bowl of quinoa, spiked with cooked tuna, egg, olives and herbs. The chopped herbs elevated the taste of the dish – the kind which will make you raise your eyebrows (in a good way) upon the first spoonful.Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict on Brioche French Toast ($15) – There were 3 different types of eggs ben available and this sounded the most enticing. It came with 2 poached eggs and a side of delicate apple salad. Look, even the lemon was torched – no effort was spared in terms of details. I’m not usually a fan of smoked salmon eggs ben as those cured fish usually comes straight out from a packet and tastes extremely salty. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the one here at Punch. It was not salty nor fishy. Not too sure if this was cured in-house, but I definitely wouldn’t mind this at all. It was almost sashimi-like. The brioche french toast was a dream too – soft, fragrant and eggy. Couldn’t believe that this plate was only $15 – I imagined it to be over $20 before the bill arrived.Nutella & Custard Donuts ($3 each) – And so, I learnt that they have discontinued the donuts as they are trying to cut down the fried dishes on the menu. Lucky that I had the chance to try this before it was gone! The donuts were so, so soft and so packed with its fillings. I tried to bite half of it and the fillings were dripping out. Why oh why did they decide to discontinue this dish.Latte ($5) – One of the better cups of latte I’ve had! Milky and aromatic. Best perk-me-up for a weekend morning.

I love Punch so much I went back a second time before writing this post. Service is always impeccable here and food will never disappoint. Fresh ingredients and no-frills execution are all I need to keep me coming back. Can’t wait to try their new menu!